#worlds converging

Today was, decidedly, a little bit strange. And even that felt like it was putting it mildly, Guy thought.

His travels had brought him to a city called Zaphias for the time being. It was a much needed break, considering everything he'd been helping to achieve back home. Finally putting a stop of Van's plans and concluding everything at the Absorption Gate hadn't been an easy task, after all. Even without that, he'd been kept plenty busy in Grand Chokmah in the immediate aftermath. Whether that be with walking Emperor Peony's rappigs or settling into his own life, it had been a busy time for Guy. Fortunately, the Emperor had understood his need for a break. Much the same as his friends would have, he imagined.

So far, the stay had been pleasant! Zaphis itself was a nice enough city, or at least was presenting itself to be. In some ways it reminded him of Baticul. That likely had to do with the way the city was structured, Guy concluded. Nobility higher up in the city and the rest of the citizenry further down. In turn, the similarities had reminded him of Luke.

Oh, Luke... he hoped his friend was doing okay now that he had a chance to try and figure out what to do with his life. Knowing his friend, though, that wouldn't be an easy task. So, Guy shook his head and decided to go about his day. Luke wouldn't want Guy to dwell on wondering what he was doing with himself, Guy decided.

Ever since he'd arrived in the city, though, people he had taken the time to talk to had kept mistaking him for someone else. Someone called Flynn, he'd gathered pretty quickly. First it had been some of the knights he'd seen, then just regular citizens. Each calling him that name. One particular man who'd had a dog with him had greeted Guy like they were old friends before realizing the mistake. He hadn't really understood it, but politely cleared up the confusion before the man and his dog were on their way again. Apparently the two had had somewhere they needed to be outside the city.

Still. To repeatedly get mistaken for someone? Strange...

"Whoever this 'Flynn' is must be pretty well liked," Guy concluded as he continued to walk. It was still bizarre, but he could brush it off. Still, as he started to make his way down one particular street, his mind wandered. People kept mistaking him for someone who, he imagined, must have looked remarkably similar to him. Back home, given everything that had happened before he'd decided to take his trip, there would have been an easy explanation. But surely that couldn't be the case here... right?

All too suddenly, Guy became aware of what sounded like a scuffle. The familiar sounds of someone in armor was among the mix. Guy figured it was one of the knights he'd run into earlier that day, and from the sound of it he thought maybe they had it handled. He could help, but as he started to turn his head to see just what was happening, it happened. A yelp first, then a sudden weight crashing into him.

The knight in question, a blond man with his hair styled in an oddly familiar way, had gotten knocked right into Guy. The additional weight of his armor added to the force to the collision made it, in a word, memorable. Guy's own yelp mingled with the knight's as he fell to the ground with the armored man on top of him, and for a few long moments he took in the pain. Not the worst thing he'd ever endured, Guy knew, but it still hadn't been pleasant to get knocked into.

Fortunately, the knight's apology reached him as he found himself being helped to sit up.

"Don't worry about it," Guy told him. "I'm just as much to blame since I wasn't paying attention." Then, he got a good look at the knight in question.

For a heartbeat, Guy was stunned into silence. It almost was like looking in a mirror when he really took in Flynn's features. From the way Flynn's hair was styled to his eye color, they looked eerily similar.

A replica...?

No... no, that couldn't be the case, Guy reasoned with himself. The more he looked, the more he noticed differences. Flynn seemed a little more youthful in his facial structure. His eyes were a slightly different shade of blue. His voice, too, Guy realized as he was asked if he was okay, was different.

Van hadn't replicated him. He couldn't have. Guy knew there was a possibility of everyone having a sort of twin in the world somewhere, but he never thought he'd actually be seeing living proof of that.

"Oh, yeah," Guy finally answered, giving his head a small shake. "I'm okay. A little sore, but I think I can manage. This is hardly the worst thing that could've happened." A light laugh punctuated the thought. Getting knocked over and having a man in armor fall on top of him certainly wasn't as bad as the pain he'd endured when the curse slot seal had been at its worst, after all.

He looked past Flynn for just a moment, noting the fallen dagger and the nick on Flynn's cheek.

The monster attacks in this particular village hadn't escaped Velvet's notice, even before Flynn and his squad had showed up. She suspected the attacks had something to do with an Incarnation that might have been in the nearby area. Perhaps that was what was stirring up the monster population. If the ache in her left arm was anything to go by, it seemed a fair assumption. She hadn't gotten there in time to do anything more than help out in driving out the remaining monsters.

She also had played witness to the way the villagers reacted. Hence the comment she'd made to Flynn when the rabble had calmed down. It wasn't really her place. She didn't know the man, nor did he know her. What she was keen to pick up on first was how noble Flynn seemed. So willing to take on the brunt of the blame if it meant that his squad didn't get the worst of it. In the past, Velvet might have been the same way.

How different things were since her little brother had been killed.

"It's a noble thought. Wanting to take all that blame on yourself," Velvet commented. There was more that could be done, though. She'd intended on flying solo, at least until she could reconvene with Milla, but in this case? Flynn might need the help.

She sighed.

"...Hear me out," Velvet finally said. "Those people may hate you right now, but if we find where those monsters are coming from? We could change that." The idea was so far outside of what she would normally do. She almost wanted to take it back. Then she remembered what that boy she'd met when she was dealing with Alicia the Incarnation had taught her. Phi wouldn't steer her wrong. Maybe it was worth her while to allow a little help.

There was something different about this person, Sophie thought. For one, he didn't look like he belonged to the Fendel forces. Nor did he look like he belonged in Windor or Strahta, she realized. At the same time, Leon was wearing a cape that reminded her of Richard. His appearance was interesting to her.

The others, particularly Hubert and Cheria, might have advised her to be cautious. Sophie felt secure enough in her observations to think she wasn't in immediate danger, though, and so she set down the sopheria she had been prepared to plant to make her approach. Lhant was a quite little place, all told. If Leon was there, not far from Lhant Manor, chances were good he wasn't there to make trouble. But then what did he want there? Sophie's immediate thought went to the idea of him being lost. Perhaps a silly assumption, but given what she remembered of her own time when she'd first arrived in Asbel's life...

If there was one thing Asbel and the others had taught her, it was that helping others usually wasn't a bad idea. A soft smile was visible on her face as she approached.

"Hello."

Frankly, Velvet hadn't even been trying to sound that smug or anything about how she'd taken down that monster. She'd hoped her dismissive tone about the whole thing had made itself pretty clear when she'd finished taking out the monster in question. Apparently he was about as bored with her display as she'd been with needing to fight yet another monster. She couldn't tell whether she should be impressed that he hadn't reacted differently, or annoyed that he was bored.

"And here I'd thought the arm would at least get a reaction," she commented. Most people were at least a little taken aback by her therion arm. Maybe Yuri had seen stranger things than that. Speaking of, she allowed her arm to return to its usual shape after a moment. When it resumed its shape of a bandaged arm, she returned her blades to their hidden position and looked him over. Yuri must have been a skilled fighter if he had handled himself that well. Interesting.

Truthfully speaking, Aegis had been keeping his expectations pretty low outside of not wanting to be the butt of anyone's jokes that day. Maybe he'd been mildly paranoid over that much, and that had led to him stumbling into the so-called 'Calamity Crew.' Some he vaguely recognized from a certain festival months prior, and among them was Laphicet. And when he'd explained his situation after they'd agreed to let him stick around, well...

To say he was surprised anyone had wanted to wish him a happy birthday that day would have been an understatement. But Laphicet had done that much. Aegis had to admit, it made him happy.

"Th... thank you. Laphicet, was it?"

Rinwell didn't remember seeing this particular building before, but curiosity had gotten the better of her. The sign had made it sound like a blacksmith, but it looked a bit different from the ones she was used to. Then again, Rinwell reminded herself, the blacksmiths she and her friends had been to in the past had usually just taken up residence in the inns they'd visited. So this one must have been around for a while and she'd just... not seen it.

There's a chance they won't be willing to make spellbook upgrades, though, she reminded herself. It always had been lucky when the ones she'd been to before happened to have printing presses to make specific books for her to use in battle. As Rinwell walked inside, she didn't immediately see anything of the like. That didn't mean it wasn't worth asking. Now that she thought about it, though, she didn't immediately see anyone that might have worked there.

Holed up somewhere starters

"Aye..."

Not the worst situation they could have ended up in. They were alive, at the very least. Eizen was soaked to the bone and looked about as miserable as a wet cat, but he was alive. To think they'd end up shipwrecked was... not unexpected. The Reaper's Curse was a fickle mistress. Still. Not the most convenient of situations.

As far as Eizen could tell, neither of them was hurt. How true that was remained to be seen. One thing at a time, though.

"And it's not storming now," he commented. Kind of funny how that had worked out. It almost was like the storm had wrapped up as soon as they'd ended up wrecked. Or maybe it just was luck.